Early NCAA exit would ruin Florida's SEC run

Mike BianchiThe Orlando Sentinel

Published Thursday, March 17, 2005

GAINESVILLE -- Florida senior David Lee said Tuesday that his team's monumental victory over Kentucky to win the school-first Southeastern Conference Tournament championship is something "nobody can ever take away from us."

You wanna bet?

Just let the Gators once again fizzle in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday and see how fast everybody disregards that SEC tourney title.

It'll be forgotten faster than the Georgia Satellites.

The Gators should be proud of winning the SEC Tournament, but that trophy might as well be melted down for scrap metal if they get upset by lightly regarded Ohio in the first round of the real tournament.

Winning a conference tournament is nice and all, but it's like hitting four lotto numbers: Hey, Marge, I just won $8.40!

In big-time college basketball, you aren't judged by conference tournaments; you're judged by NCAA Tournaments. That's why the Gators will have as much pressure as any team in the country when they tip off Friday in Nashville, Tenn.

In his nine ultra-successful years, Coach Billy Donovan has grown into a coaching giant in this state. But in recent seasons, his team has shrunk into March munchkins. Nobody in the country has come up smaller.

The Gators haven't advanced past the first weekend of NCAAs since their run to the national championship game five years ago. These guys have shown up at the Big Dance wearing lime-green leisure suits and doing the funky chicken.

The postseason futility reached its embarrassing pinnacle last season when UF was dismantled 75-60 by tiny Manhattan College and became the first team eliminated from the tournament.

There are those who say that winning the SEC tourney lessens the pressure because the Gators have already recorded a major accomplishment this season.